Bibi Dong Gives Ground! Tang Hao's Secret Observation!

The center of the canyon.

Bibi Dong finally spoke.

Her voice remained cold, but it carried less of its usual condescension.

"Blue Silver Emperor, you did well."

She withdrew her scepter, and the Soul Power around her slowly subsided.

"You protected this shipment."

"What happened today ends here."

Yue Guan and Gui Mei exchanged glances, their hearts filling with wild joy.

The Pope is... giving ground?

We don't have to fight a monster like this.

That's wonderful.

Lan Aotian looked at Bibi Dong and gave a slight nod.

"The Pope is reasonable."

He raised his hand, and the nine Soul Rings slowly faded away.

That terrifying aura of life also vanished with them.

But the way everyone looked at him could never return to what it had been.

After today, the continent would have one more legend.

A Blue Silver Emperor with nine Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Rings.

A terrifying existence capable of forcing the Pope to give ground.

Bibi Dong turned and slowly walked away.

Yue Guan and Gui Mei hurried after her, not daring to look back.

After walking several dozen yards, Bibi Dong suddenly stopped.

She did not turn around, merely speaking calmly.

"Blue Silver Emperor, I'll be waiting for you at the Finals."

As her voice fell, her purple figure transformed into a streak of light and vanished at the end of the canyon.

Lan Aotian gazed in the direction where she had disappeared, his eyes deep and unfathomable.

At the Finals.

Is Bibi Dong... inviting him?

Or does she have some other motive?

He withdrew his gaze and looked toward the three specially made carriages.

What secret was hidden in this shipment?

What made the Pope come in person?

But at this moment, none of that mattered anymore.

What mattered was that, in this world, he had finally stepped fully into the spotlight.

The Blue Silver Emperor.

The possessor of nine Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Rings.

The man who had forced the Pope to give ground.

From this day forth, the entire continent would know his name.

The corners of Lan Aotian's lips lifted slightly.

He turned and looked at Claude and the others, who were still kneeling on the ground.

"Get up. We're continuing on our way."

Claude came to his senses as if waking from a dream. He hurriedly scrambled to his feet and repeatedly agreed.

The look in his eyes as he gazed at Lan Aotian was no longer merely one of awe.

It was fanaticism.

To follow such a great figure—even from far away—was the greatest honor of his life!

The convoy set off again, slowly heading toward the canyon's exit.

In the distance, Tang San still stood among the Tian Dou Empire's forces, gazing at that gradually receding figure.

He did not know why he was still watching.

But he simply could not look away.

Only after that figure vanished at the end of the canyon did he slowly withdraw his gaze and clench his fists.

One day, he would uncover the truth behind all this.

He swore it.

At the end of the canyon, the purple figure had long since vanished into the horizon.

But the lingering aftershock of that suffocating pressure remained in the air, refusing to disperse.

Among the Tian Dou Empire's forces, Tang San still stood where he was, gazing in the direction where that Deep Blue figure had disappeared.

His brows were tightly furrowed, and his right hand unconsciously pressed against his chest.

The inexplicable throbbing there was slowly settling, but it had not completely disappeared.

"Xiao San?" Xiao Wu's concerned voice sounded beside him. "Are you all right?"

Tang San came back to himself and shook his head. "I'm fine."

But his eyes betrayed him.

Xiao Wu looked at him, wanting to speak but hesitating.

She could sense that Tang San had something weighing on his mind.

But she could not guess what it was.

After all, she had no idea that Tang San was a hybrid of a human and the Blue Silver Emperor.

Tang San himself did not know that yet.

"Let's go."

Master's voice came from behind them. "This place is not safe to linger in. Leave the canyon as soon as possible."

The convoy set off again, heading toward the other end of the canyon.

No one noticed that, atop a cliff several hundred yards high on one side of the canyon, a figure draped in a tattered cloak was silently looking down at everything below.

Tang Hao.

He sat cross-legged on a protruding rock, with a massive Wine Gourd beside him.

His tangled hair covered most of his face. Only a pair of eyes flashed with complicated emotions in the shadows.

He had seen everything that had happened.

Those nine Azure Red Soul Rings.

That terrifying aura of life, powerful enough to suffocate anyone.

And... that Deep Blue figure.

The instant those nine Soul Rings lit up, Tang Hao's grip on the Wine Gourd tightened violently, his knuckles turning white.

Nine Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Rings.

In all the decades he had lived, he had never seen such a terrifying Soul Ring configuration.

Not even Level Ninety-Nine Qian Daoliu or his grandfather Tang Chen had one!

What shocked him even more was that aura.

He was too familiar with it.

Ah Yin.

That was Ah Yin's aura.

Although it was more ancient, more overbearing, and more complete, it was unquestionably the unique origin aura of the Blue Silver Emperor!

Tang Hao took a deep breath. Murky liquor trickled from the corner of his mouth, but he did not notice.

Ah Yin was dead.

She had died before his eyes, sacrificing herself to become his Ninth Soul Ring.

That was the greatest pain and regret of his life.

But now, another Blue Silver Emperor had appeared.

And he possessed nine Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Rings.

What does this mean?

It means the Old Emperor has died, and the New Emperor has ascended the throne.

It means Ah Yin has become the past completely.

Tang Hao closed his eyes, and that Deep Blue figure surfaced in his mind.

That person was far too young.

He looked to be barely in his twenties.

But that aura, that pressure, and that imperial bearing displayed in every gesture were not things a Young Man could possess.

He was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast undergoing Transformation.

And his age far surpassed Ah Yin's.

Tang Hao once again recalled the empty cave in Holy Soul Village Back Mountain, the perfectly restored soil, the vanished Blue Silver Emperor Seedling, and the missing Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone.

He had always believed that Spirit Hall was responsible.

But now that he thought about it...

Tang Hao opened his eyes and fixed his gaze on that Deep Blue figure in the canyon, which was about to disappear from his field of vision.

It was him.

It must have been him.

Only another Blue Silver Emperor could have found Ah Yin's hiding place with such precision.

Only another Blue Silver Emperor could have restored the soil so perfectly, without leaving a trace.

Only another Blue Silver Emperor could have devoured Ah Yin's Seedling, absorbed that Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone, and completed the final evolution of his bloodline!

"Ah Yin..."

Tang Hao's voice was hoarse, filled with pain suppressed to its absolute limit.

He wanted to rush down, seize that person, and demand answers.

He wanted to ask where Ah Yin's Seedling had gone, where that Soul Bone had gone, and whether... Ah Yin had truly vanished forever.

But he did not move.

Because he had seen something else.

That person had just confronted Bibi Dong.

Facing a Level Ninety-Nine Pope and the two Title Douluo elders of Spirit Hall, he had remained unperturbed and had even forced Bibi Dong to retreat of her own accord.

That strength and confidence stirred up monstrous waves in Tang Hao's heart.

He asked himself: If he were to face Bibi Dong and the Ju Gui Douluo, could he win?

It would be difficult.

Forget winning—even escaping alive would be an accomplishment.

But that person had won.

Although he had merely forced her back, being able to force Bibi Dong to retreat under those circumstances was itself a victory.

Tang Hao looked down again at the advancing forces of the Tian Dou Empire, his gaze settling on Tang San.

Xiao San.

His son.

The only thing Ah Yin had left him to remember her by.

Xiao San's situation was dangerous now.

Spirit Hall had already set its sights on him. Today's ambush was proof of that.

If not for Jian Douluo Chenxin's intervention and the appearance of this New Emperor,

Xiao San would likely have become the target of everyone's hostility.

Of course, he would certainly have stepped forward then as well, taking Xiao San and fleeing.